April 9, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Football Spring Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
Head Coach Chuck Long
Opening Comments:
We finished week one of spring football, heading into week two and we had a good week. The big emphasis last week was ball security offensively, and creating turnovers defensively. We had a lot of issues last year, but one of the issues was not enough ball security offensively and not getting enough turnovers. If you look at the final stats at the end of the year, we're at the bottom of the pack in our conference in that department, so it's been a big emphasis. One of the things, for example defensively, it's been about eyes on the ball. If we have our eyes on the ball from the very beginning, you get more turnovers that way. We are really trying to emphasize it in every period we're in, including team periods and seven-on-seven periods. We always have one period during the course of the day to work on it, but we're doing it all throughout practice.
"I like the way our young guys are competing. Offensively, (quarterback) Kevin O'Connell has stepped front and center last week. That competition is alive and will go all the way through spring. (Quarterback) Kevin Craft has had some moments as well. Darren Mougey has really had a good week, and we're moving him at every position on offense right now. Being a quarterback and knowing all the routes, I don't think he's broken off one route. He still needs to learn the essence of route running, but I really like what he's doing. Up front our line is doing a nice job - there is some good competition. The big three of Mike Kravetz, Will Robinson and Brandyn Dombrowski are doing a great job. (Redshirt tight end) Steve Schmidt may be the best recruit of our recruiting class. We redshirted him last year, and it was probable one of the best decisions we made. He's really shown up and done a nice job. He has excellent toughness and (tight end) Matt Kawulok is right behind him. The running back position starts with Brandon Bornes and Atiyyah Henderson doing a nice job - (it's) very competitive as we thought it would be. Wide receivers, Chaz Schilens and Brett Swain, picked up where they left off. Roberto Wallace is really showing up as a young player.
"We have switched Jose Perez from offense to defense and he's really showing up as a corner for us. I should mention Russell Allen, with all of our strength and conditioning, has been at the top of all the charts which has shown up on the field as well.
"Week No. 2 will end with a scrimmage on Saturday, our first one. It will be here at 1:30 p.m. and we are looking forward to that."
On naming a starting quarterback:
"We're not getting any closer at this point, but Kevin O'Connell did have a good week last week. His leadership really came out. Kevin Craft had his moments. I would (still) go with naming the starter at the end of spring football. I anticipate that happening, (but) we always like to keep the door open for bringing it back to the fall. (However) we would like to settle that position so that individual knows going into the summer that he's the leader of the football team and we can plan according. I thought Kevin O'Connell really stepped forward last week, but still has a ways to go."
On turnovers:
"We have to control the ball better and hold onto it offensively and defensively. We have to get our hands on it more. Teams like Rutgers and Boise that turned it around last year had a great turnover margin. Teams like USC get the turnovers and they hold onto the football. That's the name of the game. We have to do a much better job of that."
On the pass rush:
"We had a pretty good rush - it just didn't show up in terms of sacks like everyone wants. We had a good rush at various times throughout the year, but we are doing a lot more of what we call `eyes on the ball' defense. We are going to start with zone defense on the quarterback and not turn our head as much as we did last year. A lot of it was trying to find the receivers in the zones. A lot of it was match up zones we had last year. We're trying to get away from that a little bit - keeping it simpler back there and keeping their eyes on the football."
On the center position:
"(We have) good competition there. We're trying to find the right rotation and the right mix with the other guys that are more stable. We're working in Mike Schmidt, Trask Iosefa and Peter Manuma and we will found out (who wins the job). We really like what Trask's done. We still have him for four more years. He's athletic and we like everything about his work ethic right now."
On practicing with pads:
"Our goal is to keep them healthy as much as possible. I think last spring scared a lot of our coaches off, but we'll interject some tackling at some point. It might be (some) tomorrow, but more so on Wednesday. That way they have a day off on Thursday before they resume on Friday. We're looking at Wednesday (to tackle) at the earliest."
Offensive lineman Mike Kravetz
On the expectations for the offensive line this year:
"I think we have higher expectations than usual. Even though we have three returners, we have a lot of young guys, and this spring is going to be really crucial for their development as far as learning more of the offense and improving their technique."
On how he sees the center position shaping up:
"I think our center candidates, Trask Iosefa, Mike Schmidt and Peter Manuma, all have the ability to contribute. I don't know where each of them stand, because we really haven't gone through that much yet this spring. I think getting experience is going to be the key for those three guys. Mike played a little bit last year, but Trask and Peter didn't. I think a lot of it is going to be development this year and understanding the speed of the game and making sure everyone on the line is on the same page as to where we need to go as an offense. (The center) is looked at as our leader, so I think this spring is going to be crucial for that position.
Quarterback Kevin O'Connell
On Darren Mougey's first week of practice of the spring as a wide receiver:
"It's been his first week of extensive work at that position. He just shows so much athleticism and potential. It's like whatever the guy does, he's good at it. It's incredible. It's been fun watching him. I know he's having a really good time with it. I think he has a new-found respect for the legs that a receiver has to have and the conditioning (that goes along with it). But I think he's excited. He's also excited to get back under center and take some snaps and do a little bit of everything. He's one of those team guys who we're going to be expecting a lot out of."
On his thoughts about spring ball:
"It's one of those things where I've been through the whole process of spring ball and the conditioning and going through the summers. This is going to be my fifth (spring). I remember watching guys like Adam Hall, Lon Sheriff and Matt Dlugolecki, and I'm just trying to do now what those guys were doing when I was a true freshman. We're right around the corner. We've been working so hard for five straight years preparing for each and every season like it's going to be our last. But this really is going to be our last season. We can't leave any stone left unturned. We have to be there for the young guys and get ready to be successful."
On the center position:
"All of the centers have done a really good job so far of not missing a beat. We haven't had too many balls on the ground, which is pretty unusual with new centers to start out the spring. Guys like Mike Kravetz, Brandyn Dombrowski and Will Robinson have shown so much leadership early on and bringing young guys along like Whitley Fehoko and Traska Iosefa as they're trying to get involved here. I think having those guys is really going to help out the center situation, because it's like having four or five centers up (on the line) making calls.